Pressure cylinders that contain liquified gases, such as chlorine, used in water treatment processes, are customarily provided with a main outlet valve having a stem and a lateral outlet for connection to a vacuum regulator or other dispensing control device. Small cylinders, such as 150 lb. gas capacity, are usually disposed upright so that the outlet valve is located at the top of the cylinder with the valve stem projecting upwardly. With the cylinder thus disposed, and the valve open, gas may be drawn from the cylinder by means of known equipment such as sold by the assignee of the present application.
In certain installations, it is desirable for the valve to close automatically in response to some condition, such as sensed gas leakage. For this purpose, automatic valve actuators have been used. One such actuator, used by Applicant, employs an air operated rachet which is connected to the valve stem and a source of air under pressure. When air is supplied in response to a sensed condition, the rachet rotates to close the valve and halt the flow of gas from the cylinder.
Heretofore, the valve actuator has been mounted on a complex framework secured to a wall adjacent the pressure cylinder. The framework is designed to enable the actuator to be raised and lowered into operative engagement with respect to the cylinder valve stem for ready installation and removal of filled and depleted cylinders. It has been discovered, however, that when such apparatus is used to close a valve, it has been necessary to secure the cylinder against rotation in response to actuation of the rachet in order to insure that the cylinder does not rotate with the rachet and thereby preclude closing of the cylinder, particularly when the cylinder contains a minimal amount of gas, and hence is light in weight. This has been accomplished by strapping the cylinder to a stationary object, such as the adjacent wall.
While the aforedescribed actuator and cylinder mounting arrangement has been satisfactory, there is a need for a simpler actuator mounting arrangement which can be manufactured economically and installed readily without the need for special tools or skills.